The unelected transitional legislature of Burkina Faso, a country currently under military rule, adopted an amended Persons and Family Code on 1 September 2025. The new Code was signed by transitional President Captain Ibrahim Traoré on 25 September 2025 and replaces the 1989 version, with significant amendments. The precise effective date of this new law remains unclear.
The 2025 Code addresses matters relating to the status and rights of natural and legal persons, the composition and rights of families, marriage and its dissolution, and inheritance. A new Article 210-3, inserted at the beginning of the section relating to families, explicitly criminalises ‘homosexual acts or similar practices’, as well as ‘behaviour likely to promote homosexual and similar practices,’ with penalties of two to five years’ imprisonment and fines of up to 10 million CFA francs. Penalties are doubled in the event of a repeat offense.
